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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Oh Yeah ! I forgot my Bergere Chairs !

Too much going on - really - just. too. much.

I'm working on one thing - and then move on to another before finishing - so I have a house full of half done projects ( including the house itself )

While I was pulling out the dining room chairs to repaint - ( a room I NEVER go into because it hasn't been touched in this year of reno's and it quite literally makes me sick to see it ) I noticed my sad Bergere chairs sitting in the corner ..............

John was horrified that I would even consider these..............and I seem to recall him laughing his head off when he came home with them..................because really he only saw this

While I only saw this - the same chair - with a little work done to it !

The last photo I showed way back in September was this one

Because that was all that had been painted - once I wrote up the post I guess I quickly shoved them into the hell hole ( that's the official name of the dining room in it's current state ) and forgot all about them !

So yesterday I promptly stopped painting the dining room chairs ( and I'll probably forget about them too LOL ) You can see the before and after's of these HERE

and started resumed working on these................because that's the way I roll.

I knew I was painting the fabric from the get go - because a quote from the reupholsterer was in the 400.00 range - PER CHAIR - and that was just not happening ( maybe down the road when reno's are finished - perhaps a beautiful linen would be nice - but there's no way I can justify spending that now- that's a set of French doors for the dining room ! )
Which is where I'd like to put these chairs eventually - flanking each side of French doors..............

So - ok - here we go -

Most of you know how to do this by now - but for those of you that don't - first and foremost you must dampen your fabric -
Some use a spritz bottle of water as they go - ( which is smart ) I just use a damp rag and wet the fabric that way ( which is lazy ) both ways work.
Dampening the fabric allows for the paint to work almost like a DYE -
Those of you that question paint's adherence to fabric - have you every tried to get it off clothing it's spilled on? Impossible!

I also use ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT ™ - ( believe it or not many years ago I painted a leather chair using latex paint and it held up beautifully ) but now as you know I mostly use chalk paint for everything.

Step 1 - I watered the paint to a milky consistency and applied it to the fabric.
Step 2 - I lightly sanded the surfaces that had just been painted - removing the " stiffness "
Step 3 - I put a second coat - watering it to a gravy consistancy.
Step 4 - I sanded
Step 5 - I slapped another coat of the gravy on........................

The most difficult part of this chair transformation was the upholstered arms - HOLY SHIZ, I can't tell you how much I hate removing old fabric from chairs................and how hard these particular ones were.
At one point I was going to try to paint the ripped fabric and leave it as a deconstructed look lol ( which I actually like ) but I persevered instead.

This is what I used to do the job.

The most important item being the polysporin because I now have a pinky finger that has been rendered useless - and a middle finger that's wrapped in 10 bandages to stop the bleeding.

The pain of a screw driver plunging in to your finger while using all your strength is worse than delivering a baby.
I thought about that long and hard - and I stand by it.
We forget the pain of giving birth - I was in labor for 8 hours with the twins - and if someone had shoved a screwdriver into my bones for 8 hours I would have never forgotten it.

John was out when I was working on this chair - and it struck me that I didn't scream.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around........................
I know for a fact that if he'd been home I'd have let out a scream - isn't that strange?
And then I'd say - No, no, I'm ok - and press my finger so the blood would splatter all over his feet.
Actress?
Why yes, yes I am
But I could never match the yell John would have let out - never

The beautiful details ( and it's all in the details, right? ) which didn't really show at all in it's original state - pop ( I hate that word with decor but I can't think of another to use right now ) and besides - they really DO pop

I think I'll dab a little silver on the " relief " for a little something - something

Level of difficulty?
Pffft - trust me, if I can do it, anyone can - all you need is patience.
And polysporin.............

THIS chair was a lot more work because I reupholstered it - painting's a breeze compared to that
( hmmm - how many chair makeover's can I fit in one post? ) But it's still one of my favorites :)

Back to the Bergere - all that's left is to wax it - but here she is
Marie Anoinette !
I'm just going to bombard you with photos now..............
As you can see I didn't bother with replacing the fabric on the arms - I'm fine with it for now - if it bothers me at some point in the future, it's quite an easy fix.

( and I forgot to mention - those little nails you dig out from the reupholstering - make sure you get every single one of them up before sitting on the floor to take photos - they also hurt )

Did I mention I painted the back fabric with Paris Grey?

Or that I paid 50.00 each for these chairs - a steal for such a well made - well designed chair ( and they don't come by often here in Montreal especially as a set )

There's still another one to do - I think I'll forget about that one for another 5 months LOL

The chair looks wonderful (I <3 the black upholstered one too). Your description of the screwdriver into your finger is horrifyingly perfect in perspective by describing it against your labor. Those pictures of Goldie are just horrifying.Rita

Well Miss Chairperson your chair is stunning. Love it! Great job. Now get that dining room done. I love those windows in that room. Oh la la it is going to be so gorgeous when you get it done. Leave the floors alone too. Those floors are so full of history and chippiness. Just gorgeous. So just paint in there and do your furniture magic and it will all be awesome.Easy Peasy lol!Kris

Dear Madame Chairperson-I'm going to do this. Paint chair upholstery that is. Seeing how I have 1002 projects that I *must* do, I feel that painting a chair cushion should be started immediately, this weekend.

Your poor finger...hope it heals quickly. I can so identify with this post - those little nails that fall on the floor? Well when they fall on the garage floor, and you neglect to sweep them up, and then you pull your car in the garage for the night - you will wake up to a flat tire!

Outstanding make over job on your chair.I have an old chair with a wicker back and upholster seat and have always been tempted to try fabric spray paint. I figured if I didn't like it, I could always redue the upholstered seat part.Think I will wait till it warms up some tho so that I can work outside when it comes to spray painting

Such a transformation! I am gob smacked (tell John that one). I have a lovely old carved sofa that unfortunately the cream damask upholstery has a stain I can't get out. If I every find my chalk paints from this move it's getting a makeover. Thanks for the tips! xo Patty

Will you ride on down to Nashville and fix my chair? I wrote about it on my post here: http://chasingquaintness.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-almost-chair.html. I didn't even bother doing anything except shoving some vintage items in it. I do have a similar chair in the living room so I may try the painting. My husband contends that women cannot leave things a "wood" color. :-)

I am sooo impressed...who would have ever thought to paint fabric like this. Amazing and it is indeed, a beautiful chair. I am looking high and low for a sheep skin rug...it makes your chair look like a movie star....!

Well, Chairperson of SV, that chair turned out beautifully. I have been painting fabric furniture for at least 15 years. I have never used chalk paint to do it either...always water based latex...and I never had to wax when I was done with the latex paint I think you do a great job no matter what you do. I would HAVE to do those arms though-lol-that's just me.

I am still reeling over that Goldie Hawn picture. I am her age and right now I am thinking I look pretty good (compared to her before- not compared to her after)...lol I bet she just LOVES that that picture of her is out there! xo Diana

Gorgeous Suzan, really! I never thought about how paint sticks to my clothes when I was wondering about how well it would stick to the fabric of chairs! Leave it to you to explain it in sensible terms!

You are hilarious! I don't know which I find more impressive your chair makeover or your wit! I so enjoyed reading this post. Love how your chair turned out and hope it isn't 5-6 months before you get the other one done...they'd make a great matched set!

They indeed look amazing...so, you paint....what does it feel like to sit on?? You said you waxed, I didn't know you'd have to wax, wouldn't that be bad for clothes when sitting on them?? I will be on the lookout for chairs to paint...Nancy

I have two Bergere that are wrong for this house, but they were expensive even years ago. How has the paint held up? I could redo them, but it doesn't make sense due to where they are going. Thank you, Su

Due to a large amount of spam ( that I'm tired of going back to posts and deleting ) I'll be using comment moderation from now on !!!Can I beat these spammers at their own game? Probably not - but I'm goingto try my damnedest !!!xoxo